Music Ensembles

Ensembles at Hamline

• A Cappella Choir

  Hamline's A Cappella Choir has toured nationally and internationally and performed on recordings, radio, and television. Our singers have premiered works of several renowned composers and received acclaim for their dynamic interpretations of choral masterworks. The choir tours America every two years and tours abroad every four years. Our choir has received accolades from critics around the world wherever we travel.

  The A Cappella Choir's musical repertoire reflects the diversity of its singers, as the choir pulls music from a variety of language and cultural traditions. We encourage choir members to share what they are learning in their language and music classes with their fellow singers to expand everyone's learning horizons. Your skills will be utilized as you learn new music and as each member develops as a musician.

  Students hoping to join Hamline's A Cappella Choir audition in a process hosted at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.

  Director: Shekela Wanyama

• Combos and chamber music

  Ensembles of three to seven musicians meet weekly in independent rehearsals and supervised coaching sessions with music faculty. The program includes classical, jazz, contemporary, ethnic, and folk ensembles.

  In this course, you'll be assigned into small groups of two to six musicians based on your instrument or voice, interests, and the genre or style of music you're interested in. This includes same-family or mixed instrumental groups, vocal ensembles, acoustic-contemporary groups, and ethnic bands. Recent ensembles include our jazz combo, cello choir, string trio, string quartet, piano trio, flute quartet, and woodwind quintet. Your two hours of practice per week, scheduled collaboratively, are divided between student-run rehearsals and faculty-directed coaching sessions.

  You'll learn repertoire and effective rehearsal techniques, improve your performance and expressive ability, and develop problem-solving, leadership, teamwork, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Hamline Studio Singers

  Students in the Studio Singers perform contemporary vocal music and practice a variety of styles and effects. Students improvise, sing solo parts and back-up harmonies, work with a sound system and computer-based recording technologies, and collaborate with a rhythm section.

  Director: Sarah Renner

• Jazz Ensemble

  Students in Jazz Ensemble rehearse, study, improvise, and perform music in a wide range of classic and contemporary jazz styles. Open to instrumentalists within the standard jazz orchestra score: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, guitar, acoustic/electric bass, drum set, vibes/percussion. Other instruments will be considered by request of the director; vocal soloists by director's invitation only. 

  Director: Jeff Bailey

• Orchestra

  Hamline Orchestra is a 20-member ensemble with full string sections, pairs of woodwinds, and partial brass and percussion sections. The repertoire includes symphonies, concertos, suites, and other symphonic works from Baroque to 20th century composers like Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms.

  Hamline Orchestra performs two fall concerts and one spring concert. Members of the cello section have also formed the Hamline Cello Ensemble, which performs in other concerts both on and off campus. Seats are open to music majors and non-majors alike.

  Students who wish to join must audition at the start of the semester in order to be properly placed within the ensemble.

  Director: Yali You

• Wind ensemble

  Hamline University Wind Ensemble, the University’s concert band, consists of 30-40 woodwind, brass, and percussion players who are both music majors and non-majors. The Wind Ensemble performs 3-4 concerts per year.

  The band performs in numerous settings around campus and in the community, supports a pep band during fall football season, and participates in chamber ensembles including flute choir, clarinet choir, sax quartet, brass quintet and percussion ensemble. Chamber ensembles may be invited to perform on student recitals, the Honors Day Recital, in neighborhood venues and in special university-wide events.

  New students must play a seating audition for the director at the beginning of the semester.

  Director: Janet Greene